Training camp for the Nashville Predators ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season opens with on-ice skating on September 18, with the annual rookie camp and Prospect Tournament taking place the week before.
For a team like the Predators looking to atone for last season's nightmare, everyone from the top of the depth chart down to the fringe of the depth chart should be coming in with an enormous chip on their shoulder ready to prove the doubters wrong and that last season was an aberration.
We already know who the roster locks are. The guys who are 100 percent going to be in the starting lineup on opening night of 2025-26 when the Predators host the Columbus Blue Jackets on October 9 at Bridgestone Arena.
Here are my roster locks, regardless of how training camp goes and assuming no one suffers an injury that forces them to miss extended time.
Forwards- Filip Forsberg, Jonathan Marchessault, Steven Stamkos, Ryan O'Reilly, Fedor Svechkov, Michael McCarron, Erik Haula, Michael Bunting
Defensemen- Roman Josi, Brady Skjei, Nicolas Hague, Nick Perbix
Goalies- Juuse Saros, Justus Annunen
That's 14 players that I have as "locks". Now of course some of these players are more virtual locks than others. For instance, could some crazy scenario happen where Svechkov looks awful in training camp and someone overtakes him, like Brady Martin? Sure, it could, but I put that probability extremely low and still consider Svechkov's starting spot very safe.
When you look at veteran Erik Haula, it's hard to imagine GM Barry Trotz going out to trade for him this past offseason just to bench him in Game 1 due to a poor training camp. Haula is a crafty veteran who knows his role for this team and will be ready for opening night against Columbus to offer stability to the bottom-six.
Everyone else listed are pretty much 100 percent locks. Even Michael McCarron. No way they bench the veteran who has been holding down the fort on Nashville's bottom-six for so long. They're going to want that chemistry returning early in the season. Again, there's the Brady Martin x-factor, but what a shockwave that would be if the rookie and fifth-overall pick overtakes McCarron right out of training camp.
Here are my roster bubble players who have realistic chances to fill out the empty slots in Nashville's starting lineup, or at least be on the NHL roster as extras on opening night.
Forwards- Ozzy Wiesblatt, Matthew Wood, Joakim Kemell, Reid Schaefer, Zachary L'Heureux, Brady Martin, Cole Smith, Luke Evangelista
Defensemen- Tanner Molendyk, Andrew Gibson, Adam Wilsby, Nick Blankenburg, Andreas Englund, Justin Barron, Jordan Osterle, Ryan Ufko, Spencer Stastney
Goalies- None
That is a lot of players to sort through, so bare with me here. First off, it should make for a very entertaining and competitive training camp to watch for the fans.
Let me begin with the forwards and the one that sticks out the most is none other than Luke Evangelista. Of course he would be in the "lock" category if he was signed, but this contract negotiation keeps lingering and he remains one of only six restricted free agents in the NHL that are unsigned. And it's not trending in the direction that gives us any reason that the two sides are getting closer. For that very big reason alone, Evangelista obviously cannot be a roster lock.
It looks like there's one of two options remaining for Trotz; give a little into Evangelista's demands and shorten the term or trade him. There are rumblings that a trade could be brewing and Nashville is prepared to "shake things up".
Another bubble player who I will get some disagreement about is Zachary L'Heureux. While he's probably safe and will more than likely make the NHL roster for opening night, his spot shouldn't be a lock, either.
There's just too much competition on the depth chart for the bottom-six to call L'Heureux a lock. He needs a really strong and confident training camp to set himself apart from some of the newbies. More of an offensive presence will do the trick. He had just five goals on a 6.4 shooting percentage in 62 games, which to be fair was his rookie campaign.
L'Heureux's realistic role should be third or fourth line in his second NHL season. His floor could be a guy who gets inconsistent starts and has trouble sticking around because other guys beat him out and show more value.
Someone who could easily push for L'Heureux's spot is Ozzy Wiesblatt. A player who plays a similar style to L'Heureux and has a relentless motor to his game while also riding the wave of a career year offensively in the AHL this past season with 15 goals and 25 assists. It won't surprise me at all if Wiesblatt steals a starting spot from somebody.
One thing to consider, however, is that Wiesblatt is waiver eligible so you need to commit to him if you're going to start him at any point this upcoming season or otherwise risk losing him to another team for nothing.
Another consistent starter from last season that shouldn't be considered a stone cold lock in the starting lineup is Cole Smith. He's been with the Nashville organization since 2020-21, but now already has three full seasons.
Even though Smith should never be relied upon to be an offensive producer as a fourth line grinder, 12 points in 71 games is easily replaceable if someone else shows up this season. Trotz has already hinted at this being the year that the younger players get their chances, and Smith is a veteran that should be on notice. All depends on if a younger talent does enough to take away a veteran's spot.
This brings us to the younger segment of the bubble players, and out of all of the forwards, Joakim Kemell has the best chance to not only make the starting lineup immediately but also move up the depth chart. That will be especially true if Evangelista isn't coming back.
Kemell hasn't gotten his extended look on the NHL level yet, but this season looks like the year that will happen for the 2022 first-round draft pick. If Evangelista isn't in training camp and ready for the regular season, then Kemell should probably be considered more of a lock.
Matthew Wood has a decent chance to be in the starting lineup out of training camp if he performs strongly. Again, without Evangelista in the picture, the pathway is much more attainable. However, if Evangelista is back then it might come down to a choice between Kemell and Wood. You can make an argument for either one, but I'd go with Kemell in that scenario.
Reid Schaefer is an underrated prospect in the Predators system after having a promising career in the WHL and now two seasons with the Milwaukee Admirals. He's getting close to making his NHL debut while still being on his two-way contract, but he's got a lot of competition to leap frog before getting a starting spot out of training camp. That would be a huge surprise to me.
Brady Martin is only a bubble player because he's a fifth-overall pick with elite talent that the Nashville organization hasn't had the opportunity to draft in a long time. Furthermore, Trotz isn't dismissing the idea that Martin could make noise in training camp. Seems more plausible that we'll see Martin later in the regular season for a short stint, but it's still worth watching.
Quickly moving through a crowded defensive corps, I've only got four locks and they're all veterans. At least three spots are up for grabs as bubble players. Blankenburg should have an inside track to get one of those spots, and so should Wilsby.
That leaves Barron, Englund, Osterle, Stastney, Ufko and Gibson as realistic guys to compete for an extra spot in the lineup. I'm leaning towards Barron initially because the organization still wants to see what they potentially have in a guy they traded for to lose Alexandre Carrier. I still hate that trade, by the way. Won't convince me otherwise unless Barron just has a career year.
There should be even more healthy competition among the defensemen than the forwards. A lot more to sort out and figure out who is lining up where, including who will be on top pairing with Josi. It will probably be Hague as the front-runner.
So for the bubble defensemen, I have Wilsby, Blankenburg and Barron claiming the spots along with the locked-in veterans of Josi, Hague, Perbix and Skjei.
If the season gets out of hand quickly and heading into a similar territory of last season, expect to quickly see two-way contract players begin to get called up and guys like Barron and Blankenburg losing starts and others getting waived if they're not on a two-way contract.
So as you can probably surmise from this, a lot of fun and intriguing competition ahead in Nashville Predators training camp, which is how it should be when coming off a 68-point season and so many guys drastically underperforming.